A loggerhead sea turtle that was rescued from a sandbar at Tybee’s south end last week died on Sunday at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island.

Tybee lifeguards had brought the more than 2-foot-long turtle to shore after public works employees spotted it early Thursday. Georgia sea turtle coordinator Mark Dodd then ferried the animal to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for treatment.

The juvenile loggerhead, which weighed about 50 pounds, was emaciated and anemic, but veterinarian Terry Norton was initially optimistic about its chances of recovering. He cleaned its shell and treated it with fluids and antibiotics. But it was found dead in its tank Sunday.

“We did what we could, but it was too far gone,” said spokeswoman Lori Hunt. She praised the effort that brought the turtle to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center where about 18 other sea turtles are recuperating from illnesses or injuries.

“We really want things like that to have a happy ending,” Hunt said. “We thank the group that went out there to retrieve that turtle.”

Norton will perform a necropsy on the animal to determine the cause of death, Hunt said.

“Hopefully he’ll be able to find out what led to such significant debilitation,” said Cody Shelley, of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, which helped in the rescue. Sea turtle strandings are running at the same pace as last year, with 156 animals, both live and dead, discovered in Georgia as of Aug. 10.

Loggerheads, which grow to an average weight of about 200 pounds and an average length of 3 feet, are a threatened species. They are nesting in record numbers along Georgia’s beaches this season, with at least 2,260 loggerhead nests documented so far.